Chester was born and raised in Eufaula Oklahoma. He grew up in a humble loving family. His parents were sharecroppers in the country and there his parents taught their nine children the principals of what they called the three most important Cs in life, Christ, Community, Charity. The Selmon’s were money poor but culturally rich. Chester moved to Wichita in 1961 where he worked various jobs before eventually becoming a Wichita City Firemen in 1969. The years of sharecropping and farming were long past him, but the foundation of the Three Cs always stayed with him. Upon retiring he felt a strong pull to do something in the community in which he had worked, worshiped and raised his family. The result is Speak Out Kansas.